I think the idea with blackout poetry is to take a book page and cross out everything except the words you want to show. Austin uses newspaper pages, so he describes the technique as “poems made by redacting newspapers with a permanent marker”.

So my blackout poem is “She was learning, doing, and enjoying… even if she never became a great artist.” (It’s from an old copy of Little Women.)

Have you ever tried blackout poetry?

I am posting two art journal pages every Thursday, with the last Thursday of the month being a response to a challenge. This week’s prompt comes from Andrea!

Journaling challenge: Pick one word that describes you right now. Just one word.

Art challenge: Play with the word you picked. Use letter stickers, cut out your word from magazines and create a collage, write your word a hundred times on a piece of paper and use it as a background, use paint to write your word, … The main focus should be on your word.

Get Messy is an art journal challenge where a gang of crafty vixens are sharing art journal pages we have created to practice our skills and push past our creative limits with hopes to inspire. Go check out these crazy talented ladies who are creating pages who each have a unique perspective and style. We will be sharing our work around social media so follow the hashtag #getmessyartjournal.

7 Comments

Wow, Anika. I’ve seen a lot of people try blackout poetry, but yours is the first that I LOVE, and the first that I like more than Austin Kleon’s. You make me want to try this. You also make me want to get a sewing machine.

Wow, Caylee, that’s a huge compliment, thank you! Yes, I recommend getting a sewing machine. Maybe wait till after you move. I use the Brother CS6000i and it works great on paper. It’s a lot less sticky than glue!